Sunday, April 20, 2014

A Decathlete

It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving break when Travis called me from school telling me he had just been cut from the varsity basketball team. It was his senior year, and it was a tough reality to face. Travis had been practicing and playing basketball since he was in elementary school. What would he do now? What would the winter be like without hours and hours of basketball?

Soon after he walked in the door that deflating afternoon, I had my answers. Travis had already decided that he was going to focus full-time on track and that he was going to become a decathlete.* He went for a run that very afternoon. Daily exercise HAD to be part of his routine and if he didn't get that structure from school, he would create his own.

(Travis and Coach Tripp)

All winter Travis worked out with David Stroshine at ASAP Training to help him get in his best possible physical shape. He traveled to Salt Lake twice a week to learn how to pole vault. He worked with his coaches at Timpview and even with his dad on the weekends (who threw discus and shot put in high school).

Who would have thought that he would place second overall (3A-5A) in the decathlon event (2014 BYU Multi/Distance Carnival) that took place this past weekend when he had only been training since January? We were surprised, thrilled, excited, and so very happy.

Travis, always remember that you have it in you to do hard hard things!

*A decathlon is an athletic event that takes place over the course of two days in which each competitor takes part in the same prescribed ten events (100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500-meter run).